ĂMICTUS. The verb _amicire_ is commonly opposed to _induere_,
the former being applied to the putting on of the outer garment,
the pallium, laena, or toga (ἱμάτιον, φᾶρος); the latter, to the
putting on of the inner garment, the tunic (χιτών). In consequence
of this distinction, the verbal nouns _amictus_ and _indutus_, even
without any further denomination of the dress being added, indicate
respectively the outer and inner clothing. In Greek _amicire_ is
expressed by ἀμφιέννυσθαι, ἀμπέχεσθαι, ἐπιβάλλεσθαι, περιβάλλεσθαι:
and _induere_ by ἐνδύνειν. Hence came ἀμπεχόνη, ἐπίβλημα, and
ἐπιβόλαιον, περίβλημα, and περιβόλαιον, an outer garment, a cloak, a
shawl; and ἔνδυμα, an inner garment, a tunic, a shirt.
AMPHICTỸŎNES (ἀμφικτύονες). Institutions called amphictyonic appear
to have existed in Greece from time immemorial. They seem to have
been originally associations of neighbouring tribes, formed for the
regulation of mutual intercourse and the protection of a common
temple or sanctuary, at which the representatives of the different
members met, both to transact business and to celebrate religious
rites and games. One of these associations was of much greater
importance than all the rest, and was called, by way of eminence,
the _Amphictyonic League_ or _Council_ (ἀμφικτυονία). It differed
from other similar associations in having two places of meeting, the
sanctuaries of two divinities; which were the temple of Demeter, in
the village of Anthela, near Thermopylae, where the deputies met
in autumn; and that of Apollo, at Delphi, where they assembled in
spring. Its connexion with the latter place not only contributed
to its dignity, but also to its permanence. Its early history is
involved in obscurity. Most of the ancients suppose it to have
been founded by Amphictyon, the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, from
whom they imagined that it derived its name: but this opinion is
destitute of all foundation, and arose from the ancients assigning
the establishment of their institutions to some mythical hero. There
can be little doubt as to the true etymology of the word. It was
originally written ἀμφικτίονες, and consequently signified those that
dwelt around some particular locality. Its institution, however, is
clearly of remote antiquity. It was originally composed of twelve
_tribes_ (not cities or states, it must be observed), each of which
tribes contained various independent cities or states. We learn
from Aeschines, that in B.C. 343, eleven of these tribes were as
follows:--The Thessalians, Boeotians (not Thebans only), Dorians,
Ionians, Perrhaebians, Magnetes, Locrians, Oetaeans or Oenianians,
Phthiots or Achaeans of Phthia, Malians, and Phocians; other lists
leave us in doubt whether the remaining tribe were the Dolopes or
Delphians; but as the Delphians could hardly be called a distinct
tribe, their nobles appearing to have been Dorians, it seems probable
that the Dolopes were originally members, and afterwards supplanted
by the Delphians. All the states belonging to each of these tribes
were on a footing of perfect equality. Thus Sparta enjoyed no
advantages over Dorium and Cytinium, two small towns in Doris: and
Athens, an Ionic city, was on a par with Eretria in Euboea, and
Priene in Asia Minor, two other Ionic cities. The ordinary council
was called _Pylaea_ (πυλαία), from its meeting in the neighbourhood
of Pylae (Thermopylae), but the name was given to the session at
Delphi as well as to that at Thermopylae. The council was composed of
two classes of representatives, one called _Pylagorae_ (Πυλαγόραι),
and the other _Hieromnemones_ (Ἱερομνήμονες). Athens sent three
Pylagorae and one Hieromnemon; of whom the former were elected
apparently for each session, and the latter by lot, probably for a
longer period. Respecting the relative duties of the Pylagorae and
Hieromnemones we have little information: the name of the latter
implies that they had a more immediate connection with the temple. We
are equally in the dark respecting the numbers who sat in the council
and its mode of proceeding. It would seem that all the deputies had
seats in the council, and took part in its deliberations; but if it
be true, as appears from Aeschines, that each of the tribes had only
two votes, it is clear that all the deputies could not have voted. In
addition to the ordinary council, there was an _ecclesia_ (ἐκκλησία),
or general assembly, including not only the classes above mentioned,
but also those who had joined in the sacrifices, and were consulting
the god. It was convened on extraordinary occasions by the chairman
of the council. Of the duties of the Amphictyons nothing will give us
a clearer view than the oath they took, which was as follows:--“They
would destroy no city of the Amphictyons, nor cut off their streams
in war or peace; and if any should do so, they would march against
him, and destroy his cities; and should any pillage the property of
the god, or be privy to or plan anything against what was in his
temple (at Delphi), they would take vengeance on him with hand and
foot, and voice, and all their might.” From this oath we see that
the main duty of the deputies was the preservation of the rights and
dignity of the temple of Delphi. We know, too, that after it was
burnt down (B.C. 548), they contracted with the Alcmaeonidae for its
rebuilding. History, moreover, teaches that if the council produced
any palpable effects, it was from their interest in Delphi; and
though they kept up a standing record of what ought to have been the
international law of Greece, they sometimes acquiesced in, and at
other times were parties to, the most iniquitous acts. Of this the
case of Crissa is an instance. This town lay on the Gulf of Corinth,
near Delphi, and was much frequented by pilgrims from the West. The
Crissaeans were charged by the Delphians with undue exactions from
these strangers. The council declared war against them, as guilty
of a wrong against the god. The war lasted ten years, till, at the
suggestion of Solon, the waters of the Pleistus were turned off,
then poisoned, and turned again into the city. The besieged drank
their fill, and Crissa was soon razed to the ground; and thus, if it
were an Amphictyonic city, was a solemn oath doubly violated. Its
territory--the rich Cirrhaean plain--was consecrated to the god,
and curses imprecated upon whomsoever should till or dwell in it.
Thus ended the First Sacred War (B.C. 585), in which the Athenians
were the instruments of Delphian vengeance. The second or Phocian
war (B.C. 350) was the most important in which the Amphictyons were
concerned; and in this the Thebans availed themselves of the sanction
of the council to take vengeance on their enemies, the Phocians. To
do this, however, it was necessary to call in Philip of Macedon, who
readily proclaimed himself the champion of Apollo, as it opened a
pathway to his own ambition. The Phocians were subdued (B.C. 346),
and the council decreed that all their cities, except Abae, should
be razed, and the inhabitants dispersed in villages not containing
more than fifty persons. Their two votes were given to Philip, who
thereby gained a pretext for interfering with the affairs of Greece;
and also obtained the recognition of his subjects as Hellenes. The
Third Sacred War arose from the Amphissians tilling the devoted
Cirrhaean plain. The Amphictyons called in the assistance of Philip,
who soon reduced the Amphissians to subjection. Their submission
was immediately followed by the battle of Chaeroneia (B.C. 338),
and the extinction of the independence of Greece. In the following
year, a congress of the Amphictyonic states was held, in which war
was declared as if by united Greece against Persia, and Philip
elected commander-in-chief. On this occasion the Amphictyons assumed
the character of national representatives as of old, when they set
a price upon the head of Ephialtes, for his treason to Greece at
Thermopylae. It has been sufficiently shown that the Amphictyons
themselves did not observe the oaths they took; and that they did not
much alleviate the horrors of war, or enforce what they had sworn
to do, is proved by many instances. Thus, for instance, Mycenae was
destroyed by Argos (B.C. 535), Thespiae and Plataeae by Thebes,
and Thebes herself swept from the face of the earth by Alexander,
without the Amphictyons raising one word in opposition. Indeed, a
few years before the Peloponnesian war, the council was a passive
spectator of what Thucydides calls the Sacred War (ὁ ἱερὸς πόλεμος),
when the Lacedaemonians made an expedition to Delphi, and put the
temple into the hands of the Delphians, the Athenians, after their
departure, restoring it to the Phocians. The council is rarely
mentioned after the time of Philip. We are told that Augustus wished
his new city, Nicopolis (A.D. 31), to be enrolled among the members.
Pausanias, in the second century of our era, mentions it as still
existing, but deprived of all power and influence.
AMPHĬDRŎMĬA (ἀμφιδρόμια or δρομιάμφιον ἧμαρ), a family festival of
the Athenians, at which the newly-born child was introduced into
the family, and received its name. The friends and relations of the
parents were invited to the festival of the amphidromia, which was
held in the evening, and they generally appeared with presents. The
house was decorated on the outside with olive branches when the child
was a boy, or with garlands of wool when the child was a girl; and a
repast was prepared for the guests. The child was carried round the
fire by the nurse, and thus, as it were, presented to the gods of the
house and to the family, and at the same time received its name, to
which the guests were witnesses. The carrying of the child round the
hearth was the principal part of the solemnity, from which its name
was derived.
[Illustration: Longitudinal Section of the Flavian Amphitheatre.]
[Illustration: Elevation of one side of the preceding Section.